The alleged victim, Michael Egan III, said in a lawsuit that Mr Singer forced him to have sex at parties in California and Hawaii in the late 1990s, when he was 17 years old.

But Singer's lawyer said the allegations were absurd, and that the timing of their release was designed to generate maximum publicity ahead of the release of the latest X-Men movie next month.

"It is obvious that this case was filed in an attempt to get publicity at the time when Bryan's new movie is about to open in a few weeks," said Marty Singer, who said he is not related to the director.